Roddick A Grass Cut-up In Debut

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Teen Makes Mincemeat Of Heuberger

WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Roddick provided the packed-in crowd on Court 18 at Wimbledon with his usual symphony of moans, groans and one-liners.

"I don't care because I'm so happy with that return," he said sarcastically to himself after slopping back an Ivo Heuberger serve in the second set.

But the better music by far was coming off Roddick's stinging racket -- a succession of walloping serves interrupted every once in awhile by some startling piece of finesse that left Martina Hingis' former boyfriend flat-footed or confounded.

In 109 crisp minutes, Roddick won his Wimbledon debut 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (0). On Wednesday, he will face powerful-hitting Thomas Johansson, who has sailed through 11 consecutive grass court wins that include titles at Queens and Nottingham and a five-set, first-round win on Monday over Andrew Ilie.

"It's great," Roddick said, contemplating his first Wimbledon win. "I'm still thinking back to the days when I was a fan watching it on TV. To actually be here, be competing ... it's a good feeling."

Of all the tournaments the 18-year-old prodigy from Boca Raton has entered, this one was the most eagerly awaited.

If he is the successor to Pete Sampras as America's next tennis dominator, he has to be a great grass-court player. At times during this early evening match, which ended just before 9 p.m., Roddick looked like he grew up playing on the Wimbledon lawns.

He crashed 13 aces, including one that lit up the speed board at 133 mph, and 30 service winners. He might have saved his best piece of work, however, for the opening point of the tiebreak.

With Heuberger serving first, the two men got into a prolonged, scorching rally until Roddick changed the tempo of the point with a deft slice backhand that set up the winning stroke two shots later.

"Even if I had lost that point I would have been satisfied with it," Roddick said. "I kind of sent a message. I lost my concentration a little bit in the third set, and I wanted to make sure that he knew I was totally focused going into the breaker."

Roddick broke in the opening game of the match and again in the third game of the second set. He didn't face a break point until he went into a love-40 hole with Heuberger leading 2-1 in the third.

Roddick got even and obtained an ad with two fearless second serves, an ace on which Heuberger whiffed and a crushing overhead. But on Heuberger's fourth break point of the game, Roddick inexplicably blocked a backhand volley into the doubles alley.

He got the break back immediately at 15-40 with a forehand winner, and the two men traded punches into the tiebreak, where Heuberger never recovered from the opening point.

At 6-0, Roddick wrong-footed the Swiss with a lightly hit backhand, and it was over.

Check the neckwear

It's not that hard to tell the Bryan twins apart if you have the secret. Bob wears beads around his neck.

Beads/Bob. No beads/Mike.

Beaded Bob, playing his first Wimbledon main draw after three qualifying victories, dashed into the second round with a straight-set win over veteran Bohdan Ulihrach.

Mike didn't make the main draw, but he'll be pairing with his brother later this week as they try to win their third doubles title of the year and impress Captain Patrick McEnroe enough to make the Davis Cup team.

"First match here. I was nervous," admitted Bryan, who, along with his twin, is coached by Craig Edwards of Davie.

"But this feels really good. And now I feel as if I can relax and just play. He'll face Sjeng Schalken in the second round. With his big serve, Bryan has the potential to the make the third round here.

The Bryan twins live in Camarillo, Calif., and were coached by years by father, Wayne Bryan, who lived in Miami for several years. But the father has stepped back from coaching.

Bryan says it was difficult sometimes separating father from coach. "If one of us threw a racket in practice, dad would not like that. But with a coach, he doesn't care."

Hingis a shaky no. 1

Martina Hingis cannot lose her No. 1 ranking, even with the first-round loss. But her lead could be cut to less than 200 points if Venus Williams wins a second straight title. ...

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the French Open semifinalist who refused to boycott Wimbledon, won his first match here, beating Britain's Luke Milligan in straight sets. ...

Serena Williams, quickly into the second round with a win over Rita Kuti Kis, was playing only her 23rd match of the season. But she says she's not concerned about her match toughness. "Everything should have been done in practice," she said. "If I'm not ready, then I probably should have practiced harder. But I definitely feel fit, in form -- not only physically, but mostly mentally."